Cardboard boxes and angel stickers
by Shannanigans
Summary: Sam and Dean attend a funeral. Sort of AU, set in this season.


**Dean's POV**.

Sam had left that world behind. In fact, I recall him saying, "I'm just not that guy anymore". So when he asked if we could make a quick stop in Omaha to see an old friend from Stanford, I was a bit surprised.

We pulled into the small church parking lot. It was winter, and a quiet snow was falling. The whole world seemed quiet, even on this busy street. Sam had prepared me for the occasion. Although, I'm not sure one can be prepared for something like this. I understood why he needed to be here, but facing something so real – but at the same time, so separate from the dramatic turns _his_ life has taken lately – seems… well, painful. The little church is full. Full of families, individuals and hospital employees. Sam sees Eddie at the front of the church. They make eye contact for a moment and I can see Eddie is touched to see Sam here. The mass is said entirely in Spanish, but somehow I follow along. Sam seems to understand quite a bit of the service. Eddie (Eduardo, actually) and his wife Leticia speak for a few moments (in Spanish) to the crowd. There are tears and small spurts of quiet, gentle laughter. It's funny, in our line of business; we've been to relatively few funerals, certainly no Spanish-speaking funerals.

Sam had explained that Eddie and Leticia's son, Juan, was born with a condition called gastroschisis. He was born with his intestines outside of his body. The bowel quickly died and Juan was given medicines to keep him alive that gave him essential nutrients while at the same time killing his liver. He was placed on the transplant list and within his second year of his life he was transplanted. He received a liver, bowel and pancreas from a child that had died in an auto accident. Sam said this hadn't been an easy time for Eddie and Leticia. They were celebrating when someone else's baby had just died. Celebrations didn't last long however, as Juan rejected the organs within the year. He was placed back on the list and put back on the powerful, yet dangerous medicines. Each day was a struggle. Little Juan was in pain, but was the light of his parent's lives. He smiled, laughed and learned to walk in his third year on earth. Also in his third year, his little body gave out – it just couldn't take it anymore. Sam received the sad email from his friend last week. He just couldn't say no and I understood. I get it. I do. But damn, this is so hard. So freakin' hard.

When the service ends, the only real clue I have is that everyone seems to be leaving. Sam asks that we stay behind for a moment. The church empties quickly. The priest speaks quietly with Eddie and Leticia before going to his office to turn off the lights and change into his street clothes. Suddenly it's just us: Eddie, Leticia, Sam and me. The lights are off in the sanctuary, but the soft candle-light casts a warm glow. Eddie picks up a small, white cardboard box – funny I hadn't noticed it before – and walks up to the altar. It's then I notice the angel stickers covering the box. I gasp a small breath when I realize that the box holds the ashes of his son. They couldn't afford a fancy urn, so they covered a simple, white cardboard box with sparkling angel stickers. Eddie kneels in the candle-light and holds the box up in his hands in front of the cross. His shoulders shake with sobs as he offers up his only son to heaven. Leticia can't stand anymore. Sam grabs a hold of her elbow and lowers her into the front pew. Life stops for a moment. We aren't thinking about the apocalypse or Michael or Lucifer. The only angels I can see are on the outside of that box Eddie is holding. Eddie stands, hands the box to Leticia, hugs Sam and me and walks outside… his family: him, his wife and their only child walk away into the quiet snowy night.

We never see them again, I don't even know if Sam still gets emails. But I do know that I will never be the same and neither will Sam after our encounter with a different kind of angel…

**Sorry, I know this was depressing, but I had to get it down. This story haunts me on a regular basis. I'm Dean, pretty much, in this piece. It's all real. Well, except for Sam and Dean – but that's why we need shows like SPN, right?! A little escape? Thanks for reading. Leave reviews if you like. I realize this story is also pretty much unrelated to SPN, but again – I needed an outlet. Thanks for giving me one! **

**~Shannon **


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